A Toilet Seat for a Tech Lover

By Gregory Mone Posted 07.06.2007 at 1:12 pm 10 Comments

With an air filter that eliminates odors and soft lighting that gets rid of the need to flip the switch in the middle of the night, shocking your sleepy eyes, Kohler’s new C3-200 toilet is set to bring U.S. consumers one step closer to the amazing toilets that have been available to discerning consumers in Japan for a decade (the Times reports that Japanese toilet engineers have unveiled a model that tells you your body-fat ratio and plays digital recordings of chirping birds to mask embarrassing sounds).

Okay, so it doesn't have an MP3 player, but Kohler's model boasts a bidet and technology that prevents the lid from slamming shut, allowing it to close slowly instead. There are also three temperature settings for its heated seat, and a remote control to get everything set up before you sit on the high-tech throne.

This toilet sounds like such a nice place to relax, in fact, that it almost demands web access. Ideally, the lid could be converted into a waterproof, wireless touch-screen Internet-only notebook designed solely for surfing, reading or perhaps watching a video or two. Granted, this might make the bowl a bit pricier, but once you start talking about paying $1,300 for a toilet seat, what’s a few hundred more? —Gregory Mone

Via Gizmag

(Image Credit: Kohler)

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10 Comments

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popsci

07/06/07 at 4:34 pm

I am so getting 1 of these

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popsci

07/06/07 at 4:34 pm

I am so getting 1 of these

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popsci

07/06/07 at 6:08 pm

But if the lid were a computer meant to be enjoyed while sitting, you'd have to totally twist around to play with it.

A flip-out-from-the-wall waterproof touch screen web-browsing computer, on the other hand, would be pretty awesome.

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popsci

07/07/07 at 12:52 pm

Check out www.cleanbutt.com same thing 1/2 the price available now

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popsci

07/07/07 at 4:45 pm

Ever since reading Dave Barry's column on toilet-flushing (water droplets everywhere including on your toothbrush!, according to scientific data), we never, but never flush the toilet without first putting the lid down. Surf the web on that???? Are you nuts?

Plus we have 3 cats. Dogs -- 'nuff said. But we have had to fish all 3 cats out of the bowl at different times when they were young and that memory stays with you, believe me. So in our house we don't have a seat up vs. seat down issue; the lid is always down. There will be no internet surfing on any toilet lid here.

Otherwise, the thing looks and sounds great and I'd definitely go for one...if it's affordable.

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popsci

07/08/07 at 1:45 am

I first visited Japan in 1990 and high-tech toilets were already becoming ubiquitous. The Japanese have had heated seats, bidet and wash spray at the touch of a button (with adjustable water pressure and temperature), and the non-slamming lid for about two decades, not one as the article proclaims. I moved to Tokyo in 1997. When people asked me why I left N.Y.C. for Japan, Iﾕm only half joking when I say it was for the toilets.

Actually, the high-tech toilets are only one of the great bathroom features. I have a bathtub that is digitally programmable to fill itself with pre-set water level and exact temperature. Other rooms have speakers in the wall that let the bath tell me 5 minutes before it is ready and then announce that it is completely ready 5 minutes later. It shuts off the water automatically, of course.

One other nice Japanese design tradition is that the toilet is in a separate room, completely isolated from the bath and the sink, so that Randyﾕs concern from above is not even an issue if the top is left up. Additionally, the room with the tub is designed so that the room can be completely soaked with water, as people wash using a shower before actually getting in the tub, which is only for soaking. One last thing, the tub shape is different from the U.S. and Europe. More like a hot tub, its depth allows one to sit comfortably with water up to the neck or to stretch out horizontally ﾐ as one prefers. Water is expected to overflow and the floor is tiled to accommodate it.

Iﾕve often wondered why bathroom designers hadnﾕt taken hold off these innovative and extremely practical design concepts ﾐ now I guess itﾕs beginning to happen.

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popsci

07/08/07 at 10:40 am

Call me a neo-Luddite; but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend ny money on an electric toilet seat...

NASA might be able to use 'em (considering the $19M the space agency spends on commodes for outer space; but I'm not about to run the risk of electrocuting myself in "that pose" or state of undress, etc...

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popsci

07/08/07 at 12:39 pm

Oh, geez? The world is going to hell in a basket and there's a "new high tech" toilet coming out?

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popsci

07/09/07 at 12:12 pm

Awesome, another useless invention from Japan.

I'm surprised it doesn't have a video screen and cell phone capabilities.

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popsci

07/10/07 at 1:33 am

Might be useless to us, but Japanese cares a helluva lot on personal hygiene.
Also, it's something to reduce bathroom space and to make things more confortable on winter...
Living space is too expensive over there, so having a bathroom with bidet is not an option.
The newest ones in japan do have mp3, or a sound system (specially on women's bathroom) to cover... not-so-pleasant sounds?
Also, they have some paper towels with a cleaning solution on public bathrooms.
Of course, while some places has those, others still have plain simple western toilets, or worse: old japanese style toilets...
So yeah, a luxury. Kinda like shower with regulated pressure and stuff like that.
Stuff installed on shopping center bathrooms.
I want one of those.